Collar for upright members and stand with such collar

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a collar for upright members such as candles or Christmas trees, which is made of a pleated piece of sheet material, for example fabric, paper, metal foil, or synthetic material. The pleated piece of sheet material is folded so that one of its lateral edges forms a central opening for receiving the upright member while its other lateral edge forms a peripheral boundary of the folded collar. The end portions of the piece of sheet material are provided with releasable connecting means and the pleats or at least some of the pleats are provided with stiffening or reinforcing means such as ribs of cardboard. A stand comprising such a collar also has upper and lower stand members with a spacing therebetween in which the collar is received whereby the stand members extend radially outwardly from said central opening.

United States Patent 1 91 Haff [111 3,729,157 [451 Apr. 24, 1973 COLLAR FOR UPRIGHT MEMBERS AND STAND WITH SUCH COLLAR [75] Inventor: Peter Robert Haff, Munich-Geiselgasteig, Germany June 1, 1971 [30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 2, 1970 Germany ..P 20 27 072.8

[52] US. Cl. ..248/44, 431/297 [51] Int. Cl. ..A47g 33/12 [58] Field of Search ..248/44, 46, 48, 152,

Farley ..248/415 3,211,294 10/1965 Maguire ..248/152 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 603,337 l/l926 France ..248/174 1,056,532 10/ l 953 France ..431/297 35,194 7/1913 Sweden ..248/44 Primary Examiner-Marion Parsons, Jr.

Att0rney-W. G. Fasse [5 7 1 ABSTRACT The present invention relates to a collar for upright members such as candles or Christmas trees, which is made of a pleated piece of sheet material, for example fabric, paper, metal foil, or synthetic material. The pleated piece of sheet material is folded so that one of its lateral edges forms a central opening for receiving the upright member while its other lateral edge forms a peripheral boundary of the folded collar. The end portions of the piece of sheet material are provided with releasable connecting means and the pleats or at least some of the pleats are provided with stiffening or reinforcing means such as ribs of cardboard. A stand comprising such a collar also has upper and lower stand members with a spacing therebetween in which the collar is received whereby the stand members extend radially outwardly from said central opening.

V 14 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Patented A ril 24, 1973 3,729,157

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 551's! ROBERT l/AFF Patented April 24, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG! INVENTOR PETER Rosem- HAFF BY COLLAR FOR UPRIGHT MEMBERS AND STAND WITH SUCH COLLAR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION gitudinal axis of said upright member and which surrounds the upright member, especially its lower or foot portion substantially in a concentric fashion.

Collars of this type serve primarily, in connection with Christmas trees, to collect any needles which may fall off from Christmas trees and/or catching drops which may fall down from candles or torches and similar items which may be inserted in a holder or which are simply carried in the hand, for example, in processions or parades.

In connection with Christmas trees, it is usual to place the sheet material underneath the Christmas tree stand. As a result, it is rather difficult, if not impossible, to replace the collar. Further, the collar may be displaced on the Christmas tree in its stand is placed on top of the collar. In addition, needles which may have fallen on top of the smooth surface of the collar may be blown away by an air draft and thus spread all over the floor so that the intended purpose of the collar is quite frequently not achieved at all.

Collars which are directly attachable to torches or candles have been made heretofore out of a relatively stiff sheet or foil material, for example cardboard, and have a central perforation through which the torch or candle extends as the collar is pushed onto the upright member into the operational position of the collar. Here again, due to the smooth surface of the collar, downflowing torch or candle drops may easily flow off the collar or they may accumulate on the top surface of the collar, thus distorting the collar appearance. Further, prior art collars have the drawback that they cannot be easily fixed in position relative to the upright member, such as a torch or candle. Thus drops may even flow down past the collar.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing it is the aim of the invention to accomplish the following objects, singly or in combination;

to overcome the outlined drawbacks of the prior art in an economical manner;

to provide a collar of the described type which may be easily exchanged;

to provide a collar which has a surface capable of containing candle or torch drops, Christmas tree needles, and the like;

to shape the colar in such a manner that its edge contacting the upright member has an increased width to properly fix the collar in position relative to the upright member;

to reinforce such collars so that they are capable of increasing the standing surface of the stand itself;

to manufacture the collars in such a manner that they are reusable; I

to shape collars for upright members in such a manner that they are elastically deformable whereby to improve their capability of properly clinging to the upright member even if the latter does not have a circular cross section;

to shape and reinforce the collar in such a manner that it has a substantial dimensional stability;

to increase the useful lifetime of these collars while simultaneously maintaining the cost of their manufacture as little as possible;

to facilitate the attachment of the collar to an upright member or to the stand of an upright member;

to construct the collar in such a manner that they may be easily packaged and transported in an unassembled form while simultaneously simplifying its assembly around the upright member or a stand for the upright member; and

to construct a stand for upright members which is adapted to receive a collar according to the invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention there is provided a collar for an upright member, especially candles, torches, Christmas trees, or the like, which collar comprises a piece of sheet material pleated in the manner of a bellows. The pleated piece of sheet material is adapted to be placed substantially in a circular fashion around the upright member, especially its foot so that the end portions of the sheet material are connectable, preferably releasable, to each other. Preferably, the width of the piece of sheet material corresponds to the radius of the projection of the collar onto a surface extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the upright member less one half of the maximum diameter of the upright member.

According to the invention there is further provided a stand for an upright member comprising upper and lower stand means, for example flanged bushings, spaced from each other to receive a pleated collar between the upper and lower flanges of the stand proper. Preferably, the collar or rather the pleats of the collar are provided with reinforcing ribs enabling the collar to increase the standing surface of the stand.

BRIEF FIGURE DESCRIPTION In order that the invention may be clearly understood, it will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a collar for a Christmas tree;

FIG. 2 is a top view onto a collar according to FIG. 1 representing an axial projection of the collar as viewed alongv the longitudinal axis of the Christmas tree toward the plane of the drawing extending perpendicularly to said longitudinal axis;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a collar adapted for use in connection with a candle;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic axial sectional view through a columnar stand according to the invention including a collar according to this invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic perspective view of a pleated piece of sheet material prior to its assembly into a collar; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic axial sectional view through a modified embodiment of a columnar stand and also including a collar according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS According to FIG. 1, the collar 1 surrounds the trunk 2, for example of a Christmas tree. The collar 1 is made of a sheet material such as plastics, paper, fabrics, foils, and the like material. The collar 1 has the shape of a truncated cone or frustum which forms a cover for a Christmas tree stand 3 shown in FIG. 1 by dashed lines.

As seen in FIG. 2, the collar 1 has a substantially circular shape as viewed in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the trunk 2 and the cover is arranged essentially concentrically relative to the trunk 2.

FIG. 3 illustrates a modified embodiment of a collar 1' according to the invention which is particularly adapted for use in connection with a candle 4 or with a torch. The collar 1' comprises an upper portion and a lower portion which are shaped mirror symmetrically relative to each other and relative to a horizontal plane extending perpendicularly relative to the longitudinal axis of the candle 4. Each of the collar portions forms a cavity and the portions are attached to each other along the peripheral edge thereof so that the cavities face each other.

The collars are manufactured from a body or piece of sheet material as shown in FIG. 5. The piece 1a of sheet material has lateral edges laa and lab as well as end portions lac and lad. Further, the piece la is provided with pleats extending across the length BL of the sheet la. The view of FIG. 5 is somewhat enlarged relative to that of the above describe figures. The piece la of sheet material may be a textile webbing, a sheet of plastics or synthetic material, a sheet of paper or a metal foil and the pleats are arranged in the manner of a bellows. The sheet la has a width BB which corresponds at least to the radius R of the axial projection as shown in FIG. 2 less one half of the maximum diameter QD of the Christmas tree trunk 2. The length of the piece of sheet material is, due to the pleats, extendible' to a length corresponding at least to the circumferential length of the collar projection and as indicated at BL in FIG. 5.

Either one of the lateral edges laa or lab may become an inner edge or an outer edge depending upon the fact which edge is placed into contact with the trunk 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the edge lab forms the outer peripheral edge of the collar 1 while the edge laa forms the inner edge in contact with the trunk 2 and providing an opening having substantially the diameter QD". The collar 1 is formed by placing the piece la along one of its edges, here laa into contact and around the circumference of the Christmas tree trunk 2. The pleats are then extended, especially adjacent to the outer circumferential edge lab until the end portions or cross edges lac and lad touch each other whereupon the end portions are releasable connected to each other.

Several means providing such a releasable connection are shown in FIG. 5. At least one of the end portions or cross edges lac, and/0r lad are provided, for example, with a tacky or sticky layer or covering 5. Another possibility for providing such a releasable connection would be a cut-out 6 which cooperates with a respective cut-out or protruding member at the opposite end portion." Yet another interconnecting means could be provided in the form of a press buttom 7 or some such element attached to or forming part of the end portions lac, lad. Different, releasable interconnecting means could also be employed in combination. For example, press buttoms could be provided adjacent to the lateral edges and the length of the end portions could be provided with a tacky surface.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, at least some of the pleat walls may be provided with reinforcing means 8 shown with dashed lines in the just mentioned figures. These reinforcing means are attached, preferably to the inner or lower surface of the pleat walls, whereby the pleats and thus the collar become self-supporting. The reinforcing means may, for example, be attached to the sheet material by gluing or heat treatment such as welding. The reinforcing means or strips 8 may be made, for example, of cardboard, wood, synthetic material, sheet metal, or some similar material suitable for the purpose. As mentioned, the reinforcing strips or ribs 8 are advantageously arranged on the downwardly facing surface of the piece 1a of sheet material having regard to its operational position around an upright member.

The collar 1' according to FIG. 3 is produced substantially in the same manner as has been described above with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5. Here again, a piece of pleated sheet material having a width corresponding substantially to slightly less than the radius of the desired diameter of the axial projection of the collar. The piece of pleated sheet material may have preferably two layers connected along one of the lateral edges in order to form the shape shown in FIG. 3. However, the subsequent interconnection of the lateral edges is also within the contemplation of the present invention. In this connection it should be noted, that the ridges of the pleats are further apart from each other toward the peripheral edge of the collar than toward the candle or stem. Further, the upper and lower portions of the collar 1' are spaced apart from each other sufficiently adjacent to the stem or candle so that the upper and lower pleats will not interfere with each other along their entire length because the pleat walls are inclined toward the horizontal adjacent the peripheral edge and take up a steeper position adjacent the stem or candle.

The pleats provide the collars according to the inven tion with an all around elastical deformability which has the advantage that the present collars may be used not only in connection with Christmas trees or candles, but also in connection with any other columnar upright members, even if these members do not have a circular cross section in their foot portion. Moreover, the present collars are especially suitable'for use in combination with a stand for an upright member such as a Christmas tree stand whereby, due to the mentioned reinforcing ribs or the like, the collars provide the advantage of an increased standing area as compared to the standing area provided by the stand proper.

An embodiment in which the present collar fulfills the function of a cover member capable of receiving in the folds of its pleatsthe needles of a Christmas tree or candle drops or the like, as well as the function of providing an especially effective stabilizer is illustrated in FIG. 4. The stability of the stand for an upright member as shown in FIG. 4 is increased due to the increased standing surface as will be explained in more detail below. The stand 3" proper comprises upper and lower stand means. The lower stand means comprise a bushing or tubular member 3a and a flange 3c". The

flange and the tubular member may fonn an integral structure or the tubular member may be attached to the flange. The upper stand means also comprise a bushing and flange combination 3b" whereby the upper bushing and flange have a central bore through which the tubular member 3a" extends upwardly. The spacing between the two flanges 3b" and 3c" is adjustable by loosening the tightening means, such as a wing screw '20 and then shifting the upper stand means with the bushing and flange 3b" either up or down the tubular member 3 a". When the proper spacing is accomplished, the wing screw is tightened again so as to maintain the adjusted spacing. The spacing between the flanges receives the collar according to the invention preferably by first placing the collar 1" around the upwardly pointing tubular members 3a" and then inserting the tubular member into the bore of the upper stand means, whereby the disk shaped flanges 3b" and extend radially outwardly and in contact with the upper and lower ridges of the collar 1" made up of a piece of sheet material 1a" which is closed at its end portions as previously described. The upper and lower flanges contact the respective ridges on ring shaped areas extending radially outwardly from the inner lateral ridge laa". The collar 1" thus rests with its lower surface which extends outwardly beyond the diameter of the lower flange 3c" on the supporting surface. Since the outer diameter of the collar 1" is substantially larger and thus provides a substantially increased standing surface as compared to the given standing surface of the flange 30" a substantial stabilization of the entire stand is accomplished. This is so, especially where reinforcing ribs 8" are attached to the walls of the pleats or at least to some of the pleat walls. The pleat walls and thus also any reinforcing ribs attached thereto assume a position which adjacent to the inner edge laa" is substantially vertical and which radially outwardly toward the outer periphery of the collar 1" assumes an ever more acute angle relative to the horizontal. Stated differently, the outer portions of the pleat walls approach a substantially horizontal position whereas the inward ends of the pleat walls extend substantially vertically. Moreover, the substantially vertically extending wall portions of the pleats are securely held between the upper and lower flanges 3b" and 3c". The just described features provide the collar 1" with a cross bracing or transversal stiffening in such a manner that the collar practically forms an enlargement of the effective standing surface of the foot of the upright member or of the stand for the upright.

The embodiment of a stand as shown in FIG. 4 could be modified by replacing the disk flanges 3b and 3c of the stand by at least six radially extending supporting members which could, for example, be interconnected by'respective rings which again would be adjustable relative to each other in order to provide the proper spacing for receiving the collar 1". These radially extending supporting members are preferably arranged in pairs whereby an upper and a lower member form a pair and all the members would again contact the collar 1" just as in the embodiment of FIG. 4.

Yet another embodiment of a stand for an upright member according to the invention is shown in FIG. 6 in which the collar 11 is positioned between a lower member 12 and an upper member 14. The lower member 12 comprises a tubular or ring shaped member 13 into which a downwardly extending tubular portion 15 of the member 14 is insertable. The upper stand means further comprise a flange 17 provided with an upwardly extending rim 16 whereby the rim 16 and the flange 17 form a through surrounding the tubular member 14. The trough may, for example, contain water for keeping a Christmas tree fresh. For this purpose, the tubular member 14 is provided with apertures 18 which connect the trough proper with the space inside the tubular member 14. The flange 17 which simultaneously serves as the bottom of the trough and the flange 12 have a spacing between each other which is determined by the height of the ring shaped member 13 or by the lower end 15 of the tubular member 14. The collar 11 is received between the two flanges in the same manner as has been described above in more detail with reference to FIG. 4.

Tightening means such as wing screws 19 may be provided in the upper tubular member for fixing the trunk 2 of a Christmas tree, for example, into proper position. The placing of the collar is accomplished in a very simple manner by withdrawing the upper stand means from the lower stand means and then surrounding the ring 13 with the collar 11. Thereafter the lower portion 15 is reinserted into the ring 13 whereby the collar 11 is securely fixed in position. It will be appreciated that the collar 11 also increases the stability of the stand as has been described above.

Advantages of the invention are especially seen in the fact that the present collar may be produced with little investment and from sheet material which is available at relatively low costs. Moreover, the present collar is rather versatile since it may be used independently of a stand as has been described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 and it may also be used in combination witha stand as has been described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 6 whereby the additional advantages are achieved that the stability of such stands is increased.

The lateral or radially outwardly extending pleats reinforce the present collar in all directions in such a manner that it is elastically deformable and thus provides a tight fit around the foot portion of the upright member, even where the member does not have a circular cross section. Another advantage is seen in the releasable connection between the end portions lac and lad whereby the collar may be quickly installed and easily removed as desired for replacement or for reuse at a later time thus, the present collar may be repeatably exchanged with hardly any efforts at all.

Since the grooves between the pleats have a depth which increases toward the central axis of the upright member and thus of the present collar, the collar is especially capable of receiving and thus concealing any needles which might fall down from a Christmas tree or any drops from candles or the like. By virtue of these grooves and pleats, the present collar retains its neat appearance even after prolonged use and thus fulfilling its purpose substantially more efficiently than collars of the prior art.

As mentioned above, the reinforcing ribs which may be glued, riveted, welded or connected in any other suitable manner to the walls of the pleats provide a double combinational effect, namely, they provide the collar itself with a dimensional stability and simultaneously they stabilize the upright member. This is so even in the embodiment of FIG. 1 because the dimensional stability assures a rather tight fit of the inner edge laa around the trunk 2.

The interconnection of the end portions lac and lad which itself may be in the form of a half pleat may also be accomplished in a very simple manner, for example, by means of paper clips or the like. However, it is also quite suitable to provide at least one of the end portions of the piece of sheet material with connecting means which are releasable from each other, for example as mentioned above, sticky or tacky surface portions, press buttons, inserting members or arresting tongues or the like. These means especially facilitate the placing of the collar into its proper position.

Even in the embodiment which comprises the mentioned reinforcing ribs such as strips of cardboard, wood, synthetic material or strips of sheet metal, the present pieces of sheet material such as textile webs, synthetic material, paper and metal foils are very easily packaged and transported as well as stored due to the pleats which assure an easy folding.

Although theinvention has been described with reference to specific examples, it is to be understood that it is intended to cover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of the appended claims. Thus, for example, the present stands as described with reference to supporting a Christmas tree, may be used for supporting any other upright members, for example, an umbrella shaft.

What I claim is:

l. A collar for a cut Christmas tree supported by a stand on a surface, said collar comprising a body of sheet material having an inner lateral edge and an outer lateral edge and a pair of end portions, said body having a plurality of pleats extending between said lateral edges and being formed around the trunk of said tree with the inner lateral edge engaging said trunk above said stand and the outer lateral edge engaging said surface, and means joining the end portions of said body, said pleats extending radially with respect to said trunk and forming open grooves having depths which increase toward said trunk.

2. The collar of claim 1, wherein said means joining said end portions comprises releasable joining means.

3. The collar of claim 1, wherein said body of sheet material has a width between said inner and outer lateral edges which corresponds substantially to one half of the diameter of a projection of said collar onto said surface extending perpendicularly to the axis of said trunk reduced by one half of the diameter of said trunk.

4. The collar of claim. 1, wherein said pleats comprise walls, comprising reinforcing means attached to at least some of said walls.

5. The collar of claim 2, wherein said joining means comprises tack-y surface means along at least one of said end portions.

6. The collar of claim 2, wherein said joining means comprises press fastener means along said end portions.

7. The collar of claim 2, wherein said joining means comprises slide-in means along said end portions.

8. A stand for a Christmas tree, comprising upper central stand means, lower central stand means having a standing surface, and a collar, said collar comprising a body of sheet material having an inner lateral edge, an outer lateral edge and a pair of end portions, said body further having a plurality of pleats extending between said lateral edges, said body being formed with a central opening defined by said inner lateral edge and a peripheral boundary defined by said outer lateral edge, with said pleats extending substantially radially outwardlybetween said inner and outer lateral edges and forming open grooves, means joining the end portions of said body, said upper and lower stand means having central openings aligned with the central opening of said collar and defining a space therebetween in which said collar is positioned, and means holding a central portion of said collar between said upper and lower stand means, the peripheral edge of said body extending outwardly and downwardly to the plane of said standing surface whereby the support of said tree in the radial direction is increased.

9. The stand of claim 8, wherein said upper stand means comprises anvupper bushing and a radially outwardly extending upper flange, and said lower stand means comprises a lower bushing and a lower flange, whereby said collar is held between said upper and lower flanges.

10. The stand of claim 9, wherein the bushing of said lower stand comprises a tubular member for receiving the trunk of said tree, and the bushing of the upper stand means comprises a central bore through which said tubular member extends.

11. The stand of claim 10 further comprising means for selectively adjusting the relative positions of said upper and lower stand means for adjusting the space therebetween.

12. The stand of claim 9, wherein the bushing of said lower stand means comprises a ring having a height substantially corresponding to the height of said pleats adjacent to said central opening of said collar, said ring being centrally located on said lower flange opposite said standing surface, and wherein the bushing of said upper stand means'comprises an upper tubular member having a lower end extending through the upper flange, said lower end being positioned in said ring.

13. The stand of claim 12, wherein said upper flange has a peripherally upwardly extending rim forming a trough around said upper tubular member, and apertures in said upper tubular member for interconnecting said trough and the space inside said upper tubular member.

14. The stand of claim 8, wherein said pleats comprise walls, comprising reinforcing means attached to said walls.

0' i l t 

1. A collar for a cut Christmas tree supported by a stand on a surface, said collar comprising a body of sheet material having an inner lateral edge and an outer lateral edge and a pair of end portions, said body having a plurality of pleats extending between said lateral edges and being formed around the trunk of said tree with the inner lateral edge engaging Said trunk above said stand and the outer lateral edge engaging said surface, and means joining the end portions of said body, said pleats extending radially with respect to said trunk and forming open grooves having depths which increase toward said trunk.
 2. The collar of claim 1, wherein said means joining said end portions comprises releasable joining means.
 3. The collar of claim 1, wherein said body of sheet material has a width between said inner and outer lateral edges which corresponds substantially to one half of the diameter of a projection of said collar onto said surface extending perpendicularly to the axis of said trunk reduced by one half of the diameter of said trunk.
 4. The collar of claim 1, wherein said pleats comprise walls, comprising reinforcing means attached to at least some of said walls.
 5. The collar of claim 2, wherein said joining means comprises tacky surface means along at least one of said end portions.
 6. The collar of claim 2, wherein said joining means comprises press fastener means along said end portions.
 7. The collar of claim 2, wherein said joining means comprises slide-in means along said end portions.
 8. A stand for a Christmas tree, comprising upper central stand means, lower central stand means having a standing surface, and a collar, said collar comprising a body of sheet material having an inner lateral edge, an outer lateral edge and a pair of end portions, said body further having a plurality of pleats extending between said lateral edges, said body being formed with a central opening defined by said inner lateral edge and a peripheral boundary defined by said outer lateral edge, with said pleats extending substantially radially outwardly between said inner and outer lateral edges and forming open grooves, means joining the end portions of said body, said upper and lower stand means having central openings aligned with the central opening of said collar and defining a space therebetween in which said collar is positioned, and means holding a central portion of said collar between said upper and lower stand means, the peripheral edge of said body extending outwardly and downwardly to the plane of said standing surface whereby the support of said tree in the radial direction is increased.
 9. The stand of claim 8, wherein said upper stand means comprises an upper bushing and a radially outwardly extending upper flange, and said lower stand means comprises a lower bushing and a lower flange, whereby said collar is held between said upper and lower flanges.
 10. The stand of claim 9, wherein the bushing of said lower stand comprises a tubular member for receiving the trunk of said tree, and the bushing of the upper stand means comprises a central bore through which said tubular member extends.
 11. The stand of claim 10 further comprising means for selectively adjusting the relative positions of said upper and lower stand means for adjusting the space therebetween.
 12. The stand of claim 9, wherein the bushing of said lower stand means comprises a ring having a height substantially corresponding to the height of said pleats adjacent to said central opening of said collar, said ring being centrally located on said lower flange opposite said standing surface, and wherein the bushing of said upper stand means comprises an upper tubular member having a lower end extending through the upper flange, said lower end being positioned in said ring.
 13. The stand of claim 12, wherein said upper flange has a peripherally upwardly extending rim forming a trough around said upper tubular member, and apertures in said upper tubular member for interconnecting said trough and the space inside said upper tubular member.
 14. The stand of claim 8, wherein said pleats comprise walls, comprising reinforcing means attached to said walls. 